Welcome to an 'inch of difference'.
"This inch in which we live." Richard Neville, Oz, 1971.

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Saturday, 22 October 2011

Too Many Laws

I'm not quite sure how my train of thought progressed to get to that heading* but there it is. Not only are there too many laws, there are too many conflicting laws which provide loopholes; loosely-worded law is the worst law of all and nobody knows better than the Labour govt between 1997 - 2010 and the Opposition (now the government).

The Laws of God and the Laws of Man.

Once upon a time the laws of God were taken as read, except by certain individuals we wouldn't want as neighbours. They seemed to work alright at the time:

I don't know about you but I can lay claim to at least 70% of those. Actually, looking at them again it's more like 80% - perhaps I'm a nutter after all. The only problem is that they don't seem too difficult to adhere to - on my part it's mostly been involuntary because, by nature, I don't want icons of dead men hanging on my walls, I love my mum and dad, I've never killed anyone or stolen from them, I don't sleep around, I haven't lied and I wish my neighbours good luck. Add to that the fact that I won't shop on a Sunday out of sheer contrariness (fruitcake alert!) and I think that almost makes me an involuntary or unknowing Christian by default.

On the other hand, we elected friends, neighbours and countrymen to speak for us:

There's no codification of English Law so nobody actually knows how many laws, statutes, regulations or directives there are that now seek to control and limit our everyday life but you'll know it when you walk down your High Street and you'll recognise it when you receive a fixed penalty notice from your local authority or a knowing wink from your Community Support Officer who licks the tip of his pencil and flips open his notebook as he approaches you. Round and round and round we go, without meaningful change.

These are the laws of William the Conqueror:

One God to be revered throughout the whole realm; peace and security to be preserved between English and Normans
Oath of loyalty
Protection of the King's Peace
Frenchmen to pay "scot and lot" *
Live cattle to be sold in cities
Defence of French allegations of offences
Hold the law of King Edward
Freeman's pledge and surety
Prohibition on the sale of any man by another outside the country
Forbidding killings and hangings

So, laws to repress the population aren't a new Nu-Labour or Tory-Lite innovation by any means - it's just been a progressive subjugation of the workers, by which I mean taxpayers, over the centuries. The question today is, when is enough enough? When is ignorance, deliberately inculcated by the State, going to implode?

While we're talking about 'the law', have a look at this:

EU law is a part of English law. The European Union consists mainly of countries which use civil law and so the civil law system is also in England in this form. The European Court of Justice can direct English and Welsh courts on the meaning of areas of law in which the EU has passed legislation.

And this:

Since the English Civil War, the bedrock of the British constitution has traditionally been the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, according to which the statutes passed by Parliament are the UK's supreme and final source of law. It follows that Parliament can change the constitution simply by passing new Acts of Parliament. There is some debate about whether this principle remains entirely valid today, in part due to the UK's membership of the EU.

I think there's quite a bit of debate going on behind the scenes and if I were given a choice, which I'm not, I'd rather be governed by the laws of Aethelberht of Kent than Anointed of Brussels. Labels and laws will be the death of us. The authoritarianism of the State is choking us, not just as businesses and independent charities, but as people, as individuals in our own right. I hope for a Happy Ending but know that, as with all fairy-tales, it will only come by our own endeavour.

* Scot & lot (from Old French escot, Old English sceot, a payment; lot, a portion or share) is a phrase common in the records of English medieval boroughs, applied to householders who were assessed for a tax (such as tallage) paid to the borough for local or national purposes. They were usually members of a merchant guild. Before the Reform Act 1832, those who paid scot and bore lot were often entitled to the franchise. The expression used today originated from this time period. Members that did not pay their taxes "got off 'scot-free'".

3 comments:

Saw an old friend from the old neighborhood today and this was the exact focus of our conversation.Government has regulated business and individuals into dysfunctionality.

I'll just leave it at that more or less, but it is going to put the USA out of business. We pretty much are already, but we're pointed at the ground and these people 'in charge' have moved the throttle levers forward.

That's true - government & local authorities are sticking their fingers where they shouldn't and interfering too much - everything's choking up. It's not just here - most western 'developed' countries seem to be going backwards with it. These are global frameworks.

The Lord Chief Justice (or someone like that) opined last week that UK courts need only be 'guided' by the ECHR and not 'directed'.

One place where the UK government is sticking its nose in is pretending that benders can "marry" which is entirely a matter for the Church of ones choice to pronounce upon.

This weeks offering a church "the choice" to marry queers will become next weeks compulsion, out of 'fairness'. Almost makes it seem worthwhile converting to the Religion of Peace and turning up at the mosque with my boyfriend and demanding a Molslem wedding.

Hammy died; Sammy passed away from malnutrition; Suki was resurrected. Lucky ran away. Here's Lucky's brother, Chucky:"What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare? Click my wheel to feed me.

"Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away;Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air.You'd better watch out!There may be dogs aboutI looked over Jordan, and I've seenThings are not what they seem.

That's what you get for pretending the danger's not real.Meek and obedient you follow the leaderDown well trodden corridors into the valley of steel.What a surprise!A look of terminal shock in your eyes.Now things are really what they seem.No, this is not a bad dream.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not wantHe makes me down to lieThrough pastures green He leadeth me the silent waters by.With bright knives He releaseth my soul.He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places.He converteth me to lamb cutlets,For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger.When cometh the day we lowly ones,Through quiet reflection, and great dedicationMaster the art of Judo,Lo, we shall rise up,And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water.

Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream.Wave upon wave of demented avengersMarch cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream.

Have you heard the news?The dogs are dead!You better stay homeAnd do as you're told.Get out of the road if you want to grow old."

Reform and revolutionary change that is undertaken without the explicit consent of the people, can only be maintained through force and repression.